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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: racket · court · straw · shower · rush · degree

  1. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  2. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  5. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  6. That must've been a ________________.
  7. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  10. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. The ball is in your ________________.
  13. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  14. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. court — of law
  2. degree — temperature
  3. degree — from a university
  4. racket — a loud noise
  5. racket — for tennis
  6. rush — a thrill
  7. shower — rain
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. rush — hurry
  10. straw — a straw man
  11. degree — an amount
  12. court — for sport
  13. rush — to hurry
  14. shower — to wash
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. racket — for tennis
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. court — of a king

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com